Memory management unit

ABSTRACT

A data processing apparatus is provided comprising a plurality of master devices configured to issue memory access requests including virtual addresses. A memory management unit is configured to receive memory access requests and to translate a virtual address included in a memory access request from a requesting master device into a physical address indicating a storage location in memory. The memory management unit has an internal storage unit having a plurality of entries wherein indications of corresponding virtual address portions and physical address portions are stored. The memory management unit is configured to select an entry of the internal storage unit in dependence on the virtual address and an identifier of the requesting master device. Conflict between the master devices in their usage of the internal storage unit is thus avoided.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to memory management devices. Moreparticularly this invention relates to memory management devicesreceiving memory access requests from multiple master devices.

2. Description of the Prior Art

It is known in data processing apparatuses to arrange the storage ofdata in memory in a page mapped manner, wherein page tables stored inexternal memory provide a translation between virtual addresses used bya program running in the data processing apparatus and physicaladdresses of data in external memory. A memory management unit (MMU) istypically provided to administer these translations. Using page mappedmemory for a master device in a system through a MMU has the advantageof allowing its operation to be integrated with the memory management ofthe operating system and enables memory protection shielding from oneapplication to another.

The MMU is normally arranged to have an internal storage unit in which acached subset of all possible translations between virtual and physicaladdresses is stored. A typical example of such an internal storage unitis a translation lookaside buffer (TLB). When the MMU receives a memoryaccess request from a master device in the data processing apparatus, itreferences its TLB to establish if an entry corresponding to thatvirtual address is currently stored therein. If it is, then the MMUtranslates the virtual address into the corresponding physical addressusing the information in the TLB entry and the memory access request iscarried out using that physical address. If however an entrycorresponding to the requested virtual address is not stored in the TLB,then the MMU initiates a “page walk” process in which a page tablestored in external memory is referenced to find the virtual address. Areplacement entry for that entry of the TLB is retrieved from the pagetable (consisting of an indication of the virtual address to physicaladdress translation and, typically, some other permission information).The physical address in memory is then accessed.

It is further known for a data processing apparatus to comprise multiplemaster devices which can issue memory access requests including virtualaddresses that require translation into corresponding physicaladdresses. Such a multi-master device may only provide a single MMU(comprising a single TLB). Such a shared MMU/TLB has the advantage ofoccupying a limited area on a system-on-chip (SoC) device. However, suchan arrangement also has the drawback that the activities of one masterdevice may adversely affect the performance of another master device,for example where a TLB entry commonly used by one master is the same asa commonly used TLB entry for another master. The thrashing that thenresults due to each master repeatedly replacing that TLB entry can be aserious performance limitation.

One known mechanism for identifying TLB entries in a system havingmultiple masters is the addition of an extra bit in each TLB entryindicating the master to which that TLB entry belongs. Whilst such anarrangement can enable the MMU to keep track of which TLB entries areassociated with which master devices, the above described problem ofthrashing between different masters using the same TLB entry can stilloccur. Furthermore this approach necessarily increases the size of eachTLB entry.

It would be desirable to provide an improved technique for theconfiguration of a memory management unit servicing a number of masterdevices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Viewed from a first aspect, the present invention provides a dataprocessing apparatus comprising: a plurality of master devicesconfigured to issue memory access requests including virtual addresses;and a memory management unit configured to receive said memory accessrequests and to translate a virtual address included in a memory accessrequest from a requesting master device into a physical addressindicating a storage location in memory, said memory management unithaving an internal storage unit having a plurality of entries whereinindications of corresponding virtual address portions and physicaladdress portions are stored, said memory management unit beingconfigured to select a selected entry of said internal storage unit independence on said virtual address, wherein said memory management unitis configured, if a virtual address portion stored in said selectedentry does not correspond to said virtual address, to retrieve from apage table stored in memory a replacement entry corresponding to saidvirtual address, said memory management unit further comprising an indexgeneration unit configured to generate an index into said internalstorage unit to select said selected entry in dependence on said virtualaddress and an identifier of said requesting master device.

According to the techniques of the present invention a memory managementunit is provided to translate virtual addresses included in memoryaccess requests into corresponding physical addresses indicating astorage location in memory. The memory management unit is arranged tohave an internal storage unit having a plurality of entries in whichindications of corresponding virtual address portions and physicaladdress portions are stored. This memory management unit services memoryaccess requests issued by a plurality of master devices and inparticular, when the memory management unit receives the memory accessrequest from one of those master devices, it is configured to select anentry of its internal storage unit in dependence not only on the virtualaddress included in that memory access request, but also in dependenceon an identifier of the requesting master device. This configurationenables the usage of the entries in the internal storage unit to bevaried in dependence on the master device issuing the memory accessrequest. Hence, the performance of each master device (in terms of howits memory access requests are handled by the memory management unit)can be controlled in dependence on how the index generation unit is setup.

The usage of the entries of the internal storage unit could be arrangedin a variety of ways, but in one embodiment said index generation unitis configured to generate said index such that at least a subset of saidplurality of entries of said internal storage unit are uniquelyassociated with one of said plurality of master devices. Thisconfiguration ensures that the at least one subset of entries in theinternal storage unit which the memory management unit reserves for agiven master device does not overlap with those used in association withany of the other master devices. Hence, the performance of that masterdevice (in terms of how its memory access requests are handled by thememory management unit) will not be adversely affected by the fact thatthe memory management unit and internal storage unit are shared withother master devices.

In one embodiment, said index generation unit is configured to generatesaid index such that each entry of said internal storage unit isuniquely associated with one of said plurality of master devices.Arranged like this the advantages associated with reserving internalstorage unit entries for a given master device are extended to allentries of the internal storage unit.

The index generation unit could take a variety of forms, but in oneembodiment said index generation unit is comprised within an arbiterunit configured to arbitrate between said memory access requests issuedby said plurality of master devices. The memory management unit isconfigured to handle memory access requests from a plurality of masterdevices, and hence it is advantageous to provide an arbiter unit whicharbitrates between memory access requests issued by different masterdevices. For example the arbiter unit can be configured to prioritisememory access requests from a particular master device.

There is a variety of ways in which the index into the internal storageunit could be generated, but according to one embodiment said indexgeneration unit is configured to generate said index into said internalstorage unit using a hash function. The use of a hash function by theindex generation unit enables the memory management unit to translatethe virtual address and identifier of the requesting master device intoan index of a predetermined size appropriate for selecting one entry outof the plurality of entries in the internal storage unit.

Depending on the system requirements, the hash function employed by theindex generation unit to generate the index into the internal storageunit could be the same for all master devices, but according to oneembodiment the hash function is different depending on the requestingmaster device. In particular, this enables the manner in which entriesin the internal storage unit are used by a given master device to becontrolled by the system designer. Furthermore, the use of a differenthash function for each requesting master device provides one mechanismwhich enables the number of entries in the internal storage unitallocated to each master device to be determined by the system designer.For example, a master device which only accesses a limited range of datamay only require a small set of entries in the internal storage unit(e.g. 8), whilst another master device which handles large data setscould require many more entries in the internal storage unit (e.g. 128).One example of a master device requiring access to a large data set is aDMA controller transferring pixel data (e.g. 3 MB video frame buffers)within a video data processing apparatus.

A hash function associated with each master device could be arranged ina variety of ways to provide different sets of entries in the internalstorage unit to be associated with each master device. In one embodimenta number of bits of said virtual address used in said hash function isdependent on said requesting master device. Arranging the indexgeneration unit in the memory management unit to vary the number of bitsused from the virtual address depending on the master device issuing thememory access request provides one mechanism by which the set of entriesallocated to that master device can be varied.

In one embodiment, said index generation unit is configured to generatesaid index by applying said hash function to at least a portion of saidvirtual address to generate a first portion of said index, and by usingsaid identifier of said requesting master device to generate a secondportion of said index, and by adding said first portion to said secondportion to generate said index. Generating the index in this mannerprovides an advantageously flexible mechanism for allocating particularentries to a given master device.

In one embodiment, the memory management unit is further configured, ifsaid virtual address portion stored in said selected entry does notcorrespond to said virtual address, to generate a further index intosaid internal storage unit using a further hash function to reselectsaid selected entry in dependence on said virtual address and saididentifier of said requesting master device. Using a second hashfunction in this way provides a second opportunity to find the requiredaddress translation in the internal storage unit and thus to makegreater use of the internal storage unit (hence avoiding a fetch fromthe page table in memory). If this second selected entry also does notcorrespond to the virtual address, the replacement entry can beallocated to one of the two entries selected, say, alternately orpseudo-randomly.

In one embodiment the index generation unit comprises a lookup tableconfigured to store for each identifier a base index, said index beinggenerated in dependence on said base index. Such a lookup table is aneasily configurable mechanism for translating a master identifier into abase index. The base index can for example represent the lowest orderindex available to that master.

In embodiments the lookup table is further configured to store for eachidentifier an index range, said index being generated within a rangespecified by said base index and said index range. This provides aconvenient mechanism for specifying the range of indexes that may begenerated by the index generator for a given master, for example from alower order index at the base index, to a higher order index given bythe sum of the base index and the index range.

In embodiments the lookup table is further configured to store for eachidentifier a hash function indicator, said hash function indicator beingindicative of said hash function to be used to generate said index. Thisprovides a mechanism not only for the hash function to be selected independence on the master, but also can provide a mechanism for the hashfunction itself to define the range of index values that may begenerated for each master device.

In the event that the virtual address portion stored in the selectedentry in the internal storage unit does not correspond to the virtualaddress in the memory access request, the memory management unit isconfigured to retrieve a replacement entry from a page table stored inmemory. In one embodiment, the memory management unit is configured toaccess said page table using a physical base address stored in aregister. Having this physical base address stored in registeraccessible to the memory management unit provides an easily configurablemechanism for selecting the appropriate portion of the page table inmemory. An alteration of the configuration of the page table can bereflected by the simple means of storing a different physical baseaddress in that register. Whilst one page table could in principle befully shared by the masters, in one embodiment said memory managementunit is configured to access said page table using a master-specificphysical base address stored in a master-specific register associatedwith said requesting master device. This arrangement enables a specificsection of the page table in memory to be selected for each master, andfurthermore for the selection of that section of the page table toeasily reconfigured.

In providing translations between virtual addresses and physicaladdresses, it may be that the memory management unit is called upon torepeatedly perform the same translations in sequence for one of themaster devices. For example, if a master device issues memory accessrequests to a sequence of addresses contained within a single page inmemory, then the same virtual to physical address translation will beperformed for each of those accesses with respect to the non-page tablebits of the address. In such a situation it is therefore advantageous toprovide a cached subset of the entries of the internal storage unit inorder to more quickly perform these translations. Hence, in oneembodiment said memory management unit further comprises at least onesubset storage unit configured to cache a subset of said entries,wherein if said virtual address corresponds to a virtual address portioncached in said subset, said memory management unit is configured totranslate said virtual address into said physical address using acorresponding physical address portion stored in said subset. It will berecognised that the storage policy for this subset storage unit could beselected according to various different schemes, but in one embodimentsaid at least one subset storage unit is configured to store the mostrecently used entries of said internal storage unit. It will also berecognised that the performance of such a subset storage unit is a tradeoff between size and speed, and in one embodiment said at least onesubset storage unit is configured to store up to three entries. A subsetstorage unit configured to store up to three entries has been found toprovide a cost effective balance of this trade off.

Whilst a subset storage unit could be shared between the master devicesin the manner in which the internal storage unit of the memorymanagement is, in one embodiment said memory management unit comprisesat least one subset storage unit for each master device. Having a subsetstorage unit uniquely associated with each master device providesimproved performance in terms of the speed with which a translation canbe performed for that master device, regardless of the activity of theother master devices. As a further level of refinement, in oneembodiment, said memory management unit comprises a subset storage unitassociated with a predetermined activity of each master device. Having asubset storage unit associated with a particular activity of a masterdevice ensures that address translations required by particularactivities enhances the performance of the data processing system, sincewhen switching between activities a given master device will not have towait for translations associated with a new activity to be retrievedfrom a page table in external memory if those translations are alreadycached.

The internal storage unit of the memory management unit can be set up tostore its entries in a variety of ways but in one embodiment saidinternal storage unit is configured to store said entries in a directmapped fashion. In another embodiment said internal storage unit isconfigured to store said entries in a set-associative fashion.

The present invention may find applicability in various data processingapparatuses, but in one embodiment said data processing apparatus is avideo data processing apparatus. A video data processing apparatusrepresents a system in which some masters such as DMA controllerstransferring pixel data will require access to a large data set, whilstother masters will only access a limited range of data. As such, theprotection that present invention affords to the performance of suchmasters with different data access requirements are of particularbenefit.

The index generation unit of the memory management unit could be set upin a variety of ways. In one embodiment the configuration of said indexgeneration unit is predetermined. Alternatively in another embodimentthe configuration of the index generation unit is programmable. Thisenables the usage of the memory management unit to be optimised,depending in the current activity of the data processing apparatus. Whenthe index generation unit is programmable, in one embodiment said indexgeneration unit has at least one register associated therewith forstoring configuration data. This facilitates the programming ofconfiguration data for the index generation unit.

The internal storage unit of the memory management unit could beprovided by a range of physical embodiments, but in one embodiment theinternal storage unit is an SRAM device.

Viewed from a second aspect, the present invention provides a dataprocessing apparatus comprising: a plurality of master device means forissuing memory access requests including virtual addresses; and a memorymanagement means for receiving said memory access requests and fortranslating a virtual address included in a memory access request from arequesting master device means into a physical address indicating astorage location in memory, said memory management means having internalstorage means having a plurality of entries for storing indications ofcorresponding virtual address portions and physical address portions,said memory management means being configured to select a selected entryof said internal storage means in dependence on said virtual address,wherein said memory management means is configured, if a virtual addressportion stored in said selected entry does not correspond to saidvirtual address, to retrieve from a page table stored in memory areplacement entry corresponding to said virtual address, said memorymanagement means further comprising index generation means forgenerating an index into said internal storage means to select saidselected entry in dependence on said virtual address and an identifierof said requesting master device means.

Viewed from a third aspect the present invention provides a method ofoperating a data processing apparatus comprising the steps of: issuingmemory access requests including virtual addresses from a plurality ofmaster devices; receiving said memory access requests at a memorymanagement unit; translating a virtual address included in a memoryaccess request from a requesting master device into a physical addressindicating a storage location in memory, said memory management unithaving an internal storage unit having a plurality of entries whereinindications of corresponding virtual address portions and physicaladdress portions are stored; selecting a selected entry of said internalstorage unit in dependence on said virtual address, wherein, if avirtual address portion stored in said selected entry does notcorrespond to said virtual address, retrieving from a page table storedin memory a replacement entry corresponding to said virtual address; andgenerating an index into said internal storage unit to select saidselected entry in dependence on said virtual address and an identifierof said requesting master device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described further, by way of example only,with reference to embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the translation of a virtual addressinto a physical address;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a data processing apparatus in oneembodiment;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an arbiter unit generating an indexinto an internal storage unit in one embodiment;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a lookup table, hash function unit andadder in the index generation unit in one embodiment; and

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a series of steps in the operation of adata processing apparatus of one embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the translation of a virtual addressinto a physical address as is carried out by a memory management unit.Virtual address 100 can be seen to be composed of top bits 102, hashbits 104 and page bits 106. Within the memory management unit it is thehash bits 104 which are taken by the arbiter unit (not explicitlyillustrated), together with an identifier of the master device which hasissued the memory access request containing virtual address 100, togenerate an index into the internal storage unit 120, by means of hashfunction 115. The internal storage unit 120 has a plurality of entriesin which corresponding virtual address portions 122 and physical addressportions 124 are stored. The storage of data in this plurality ofentries in the illustrated embodiment is carried out in a direct mappedfashion. In an alternative embodiment the data are stored in a setassociative fashion.

The top bits 102 and hash bits 104 of virtual address 100 are comparedby comparator 130 with the virtual address portion 122 stored in theentry of the internal storage unit 120 which has been identified by theindex generated by hash function 115. If they match, then the physicaladdress portion 124 stored in that entry is combined with the page bits106 to form physical address 140, which is then used to access alocation in memory. On the other hand, if comparator 130 does not find amatch, then a page table fetch unit is employed to access a page tablein memory to retrieve a replacement entry for that entry of the internalstorage unit 120 (see below).

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a data processing apparatus accordingto one embodiment. The data processing apparatus 200 in this embodimentis a video data processing apparatus and comprises a plurality of masterdevices 202, 204 and 206. Each of these master devices is connected tomemory management unit 210 and to system bus 220. Each master device isconfigured to issue memory access requests including virtual addresses(VA) which are passed to the memory management unit 210. Associated witheach master device in the memory management unit 210 is a micro TLB unit212, 214 and 216 respectively. The memory management unit 210 furthercomprises a macro TLB arbiter 230 and a macro TLB 235. Macro TLB 235 isa SRAM device. The data processing apparatus 200 also comprises memory240 connected to the system bus 220.

In operation, one of the master devices 202, 204 and 206 issues a memoryaccess request including a virtual address which is received by memorymanagement unit 210. The virtual address in the memory access request isfirst passed to the micro TLB 212, 214 and 216 corresponding to themaster device to determine if the virtual address to physical addresstranslation can be carried out on the basis of an entry cached therein.If it can, then the physical address thus generated is passed to systembus 220 and the data stored at that physical address in memory 240 isreturned on system bus 220 to the corresponding master 202, 204 or 206respectively. The illustrated micro TLBs are each arranged to cache thethree most recently used TLB entries. If the corresponding micro TLBcannot perform the translation, then the virtual address is passed tomacro TLB arbiter 230. The macro TLB arbiter 230 is configured toarbitrate between memory access requests from the different masters (andto prioritise between them when memory access requests arrive togetherfrom separate master devices) and to generate an index into macro TLB235. This index generation is performed on the basis of the virtualaddress and a identifier of the master device that has issued thatmemory access request. Note that macro TLB 230 can identify the masterissuing the request in this embodiment by virtue of the path over whichit receives the virtual address.

An entry in macro TLB 235 is identified by the index generated by macroTLB arbiter 230. If the virtual address portion stored therein does notcorrespond to the virtual address issued by the master device, then thememory management unit is configured to use page table fetch unit 250 toperform a page table walk to access page table 260 in memory 240 inorder to retrieve a replacement entry for that entry of macro TLB 235.Page table fetch unit 250 accesses page table 260 with reference to baseaddress registers 255 in order to select the portion of the page tableassociated with the master device that has issued this memory accessrequest. Once the entry in the macro TLB 235 corresponds to the virtualaddress in the memory access request, then the corresponding physicaladdress is generated and passed onto bus 220 in order to access thatphysical location in memory 240. The data retrieved is then passed backover system bus 220 to the master which issued the request.

Alternative embodiments are also illustrated by the dashed lines in FIG.2. In one embodiment the master devices all share a single micro TLB,indicated by the dashed line 218. In another embodiment, micro TLB 212is subdivided into two micro TLBs 212A and 212B, each associated with aparticular data processing activity of master 202.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the operation of the macro TLB arbiter230 and macro TLB 235 illustrated in FIG. 2. Macro TLB arbiter 230comprises a index generator 300 which generates the index which willselect a particular entry in macro TLB 235. Conceptually, the two piecesof information required by index generator 300 are an identifier of therequesting master device (master #) and a part of the virtual address.In some embodiments both the identifier of the requesting master deviceand the part of the virtual address could be hashed by the hash function302 in index generator 300, but in the illustrated embodiment hashfunction 302 operates on the received part of the virtual address andthe result is added (using adder 304) to a base index retrieved fromlookup table 306 (using the identifier of the requesting master device)to form the index. Operation of the lookup table 306 is described belowwith reference to FIG. 4.

In this embodiment the macro TLB arbiter 230 also comprises aconfiguration data unit 310 which determines the operation of thearbiter unit and in particular the operation of index generator 300. Theconfiguration data stored in configuration data unit (register) 310 canbe programmed as required by the system user. In other embodiments itcould be predetermined (i.e. hardwired). For example the system designercan set up the configuration data such that the hash function performeddiffers for each master device. One way of doing this is to vary thenumber of bits of the virtual address that are used in the hashfunction, depending on the master device.

Note an alternative configuration (dashed line) is illustrated in FIG.3, in which index generator 300 is configured to generate (from the samevirtual address and master #) two different indexes (by means of twodistinct hash functions) which can index into macro TLB 235. Thisfunctionality can be provided to allow greater use of the macro TLB,whereby if the first indexed entry does not match, the second indexedentry can be checked.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, macro TLB 235 is subdivided into regionsassociated with each of the master devices. Region 240 is associatedwith master 202, region 242 is associated with master 204, and region244 is associated with master 206. This association of regions of themacro TLB with master devices is not a physical property of the macroTLB, but is provided for by the operation of the index generator 300 inmacro TLB arbiter 230. Alternatively, only region 240 could be allocatedto a specific master (namely master 202) to ensure it has unique accessto those entries, whilst regions 242 and 244 could be shared by masters204 and 206 (the conflicts between these masters in this combined regionbeing deemed acceptable by the system designer).

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates the look up table 306, which receivesas its input the identifier of the requesting master device (master #),the adder 304 and the hash function unit 302 The master identifier isused to select the output values of the look up table: base index, sizeand hash function indicator. The base index is passed to adder 304,which adds the base index to the value output from the hash functionunit 302 to form the index. In the illustrated embodiment the size valueand the hash function indicator are passed to the hash function unit302, which uses these inputs to configure how it calculates the hashvalue from the received part of the virtual address. For example withmaster #1 as the requesting master, the base index is 0, and the hashfunction unit uses hash function f₀ to hash the virtual address portionto generate a value up to 32, which is then added to 0 to form the index(thus ranging from 0 to 31). Alternatively with master #2 as therequesting master, the base index is 32, and the hash function unit useshash function f₁ to hash the virtual address portion to generate a valueup to 8, which is then added to 32 to form the index (thus ranging from32 to 40). The configuration of the lookup table 306, the hash functionunit 302 and the adder 304 can be changed according to the configurationdata specified in configuration data register 310. In an alternativeconfiguration, the hash function unit could operate to produce a hashvalue of fixed length, and the size value could be passed to the adder304 to configure the manner in which it adds the hash value to the baseindex to ensure that an index in the specified range is generated.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a series of steps taking in a dataprocessing apparatus of one embodiment. The flow begins at step 400 andproceeds to step 410 when a master device issues memory access request.At step 420 it is determined if there is a hit in the micro TLBassociated with that master device. If there is, then the flow proceedsdirectly to step 460 (described below). If there is not, then the accessrequest is handled by the macro TLB arbiter at step 430 which generatesan index using its hash function (taking as its input a portion of thevirtual address) and the identifier of the requesting master device(master #) to generate an index, which at step 440 is used to select aparticular entry of the macro TLB. At step 450 it is determined if thereis a hit in the macro TLB, i.e. if the virtual address of the memoryaccess request corresponds to the virtual address portion stored in theselected entry of TLB. If it is not, then the flow proceeds via step 470at which a replacement entry is retrieved from a page table in memory.Finally, at step 460, the memory access request is carried out using thephysical address. At step 480 if another access is to be carried out theflow returns to step 410, otherwise the flow ends at step 490.

According the techniques of the present invention a memory managementunit may be shared between a plurality of master devices in a dataprocessing apparatus, yet the activities of each master device does notadversely affect the activity of the other master devices.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been describedherein, it will be apparent that the invention is not limited thereto,and that many modifications and additions may be made within the scopeof the invention. For example, various combinations of the features ofthe following dependent could be made with the features of theindependent claims without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

1. A data processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of master devicesconfigured to issue memory access requests including virtual addresses;and a memory management unit configured to receive said memory accessrequests and to translate a virtual address included in a memory accessrequest from a requesting master device into a physical addressindicating a storage location in memory, said memory management unithaving an internal storage unit having a plurality of entries whereinindications of corresponding virtual address portions and physicaladdress portions are stored, said memory management unit beingconfigured to select a selected entry of said internal storage unit independence on said virtual address, wherein said memory management unitis configured, if a virtual address portion stored in said selectedentry does not correspond to said virtual address, to retrieve from apage table stored in memory a replacement entry corresponding to saidvirtual address, said memory management unit further comprising an indexgeneration unit configured to generate an index into said internalstorage unit to select said selected entry in dependence on said virtualaddress and an identifier of said requesting master device.
 2. The dataprocessing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said indexgeneration unit is configured to generate said index such that at leasta subset of said plurality of entries of said internal storage unit areuniquely associated with one of said plurality of master devices.
 3. Thedata processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said indexgeneration unit is configured to generate said index such that eachentry of said internal storage unit is uniquely associated with one ofsaid plurality of master devices.
 4. The data processing apparatus asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said index generation unit is comprisedwithin an arbiter unit configured to arbitrate between said memoryaccess requests issued by said plurality of master devices.
 5. The dataprocessing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said indexgeneration unit is configured to generate said index into said internalstorage unit using a hash function.
 6. The data processing apparatus asclaimed in claim 5, wherein said hash function is different depending onsaid requesting master device.
 7. The data processing apparatus asclaimed in claim 6, wherein a number of bits of said virtual addressused in said hash function is dependent on said requesting masterdevice.
 8. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 5, whereinsaid index generation unit is configured to generate said index byapplying said hash function to at least a portion of said virtualaddress to generate a first portion of said index, and by using saididentifier of said requesting master device to generate a second portionof said index, and by adding said first portion to said second portionto generate said index.
 9. The data processing apparatus as claimed inclaim 5, wherein said memory management unit is further configured, ifsaid virtual address portion stored in said selected entry does notcorrespond to said virtual address, to generate a further index intosaid internal storage unit using a further hash function to reselectsaid selected entry in dependence on said virtual address and saididentifier of said requesting master device.
 10. The data processingapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said index generation unitcomprises a lookup table configured to store for each identifier a baseindex, said index being generated in dependence on said base index. 11.The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein saidlookup table is further configured to store for each identifier an indexrange, said index being generated within a range specified by said baseindex and said index range.
 12. The data processing apparatus as claimedin claim 10, wherein said lookup table is further configured to storefor each identifier a hash function indicator, said hash functionindicator being indicative of said hash function to be used to generatesaid index.
 13. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1,wherein said memory management unit is configured to access said pagetable using a physical base address stored in a register.
 14. The dataprocessing apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said memorymanagement unit is configured to access said page table using amaster-specific physical base address stored in a master-specificregister associated with said requesting master device.
 15. The dataprocessing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said memorymanagement unit further comprises at least one subset storage unitconfigured to cache a subset of said entries, wherein if said virtualaddress corresponds to a virtual address portion cached in said subset,said memory management unit is configured to translate said virtualaddress into said physical address using a corresponding physicaladdress portion stored in said subset.
 16. The data processing apparatusas claimed in claim 15, wherein said at least one subset storage unit isconfigured to store the most recently used entries of said internalstorage unit.
 17. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 15,wherein said at least one subset storage unit is configured to store upto three entries.
 18. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim15, wherein said memory management unit comprises at least one subsetstorage unit for each master device.
 19. The data processing apparatusas claimed in claim 18, wherein said memory management unit comprises asubset storage unit associated with a predetermined activity of eachmaster device.
 20. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1,wherein said internal storage unit is configured to store said entriesin a direct mapped fashion.
 21. The data processing apparatus as claimedin claim 1, wherein said internal storage unit is configured to storesaid entries in a set-associative fashion.
 22. The data processingapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said data processing apparatusis a video data processing apparatus.
 23. The data processing apparatusas claimed in claim 1, wherein configuration of said index generationunit is predetermined.
 24. The data processing apparatus as claimed inclaim 1, wherein configuration of said index generation unit isprogrammable.
 25. The data processing apparatus as claimed in claim 24,wherein said index generation unit has at least one register associatedtherewith for storing configuration data.
 26. The data processingapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said internal storage unit isan SRAM device.
 27. A data processing apparatus comprising: a pluralityof master device means for issuing memory access requests includingvirtual addresses; and a memory management means for receiving saidmemory access requests and for translating a virtual address included ina memory access request from a requesting master device means into aphysical address indicating a storage location in memory, said memorymanagement means having internal storage means having a plurality ofentries for storing indications of corresponding virtual addressportions and physical address portions, said memory management meansbeing configured to select a selected entry of said internal storagemeans in dependence on said virtual address, wherein said memorymanagement means is configured, if a virtual address portion stored insaid selected entry does not correspond to said virtual address, toretrieve from a page table stored in memory a replacement entrycorresponding to said virtual address, said memory management meansfurther comprising index generation means for generating an index intosaid internal storage means to select said selected entry in dependenceon said virtual address and an identifier of said requesting masterdevice means.
 28. A method of operating a data processing apparatuscomprising the steps of: issuing memory access requests includingvirtual addresses from a plurality of master devices; receiving saidmemory access requests at a memory management unit; translating avirtual address included in a memory access request from a requestingmaster device into a physical address indicating a storage location inmemory, said memory management unit having an internal storage unithaving a plurality of entries wherein indications of correspondingvirtual address portions and physical address portions are stored;selecting a selected entry of said internal storage unit in dependenceon said virtual address, wherein, if a virtual address portion stored insaid selected entry does not correspond to said virtual address,retrieving from a page table stored in memory a replacement entrycorresponding to said virtual address; and generating an index into saidinternal storage unit to select said selected entry in dependence onsaid virtual address and an identifier of said requesting master device.